Drill Bit Sharpening - Shared Economy

[rlitman]

I probably use mine way less than once a year, yet I still find it indispensable. I just find that time grinding takes away from more productive shop time, so I'll wait until I have accumulated a significant number of things that need to be sharpened before I'll spend an evening sharpening. I've got plenty of drill bit sets to reach into and I must have five different sets of chisels, so when I need a chisel, I don't have to worry about finding a sharp one. Same thing goes for welding tungstens. There's got to be 100 or more in the drawer.

As for sharing tools, some things are a natural fit for that (I've got a pump that's emptied many flooded basements), and some, not so much. I wouldn't be comfortable lending out my O/A torch, or chainsaw. The shaper/planer idea is not a new one. There are woodshops where you can rent time in. Maker spaces might have industrial sewing machines. As for the DD, it's reasonably inexpensive, and relatively easy to store. If you have the space for it, and if you can justify the cost based on the amount of bits you expect to sharpen, it might make sense for you to just own it. If not, just accumulate dull bits and sell them at scrap prices to someone here who has one. Drill bits are consumables anyway.

 

[zendriver]

it takes trial and error to figure out how to make it work right.

I'll never understand this common theme, as long as I live.

I'm as dumb as anyone, but the four times, in six years, I used mine, I ended up with razor sharp bits, that cut through metal like they were new.

I used it a couple of month ago forgetting the 3 steps, so I consulted the manual LOL

Like anything shared, when somebody needed something, either the other person was unavailable, or the tools was broken and they forgot to tell anyone.

If I only owned the tools I use regularly, I could tote them all around in a wheelbarrow.

 

[cheechi]

I have at times sharpened small drills with hand files, although not often or recently. I use my DD750x when I have a pile big enough to get it down off the shelf, it runs for about 10 mins per year and I get the pile done. And I own enough grinders to do it by hand too, but I like the DD just fine.

Here's what you do. Go buy a set of HF drills, the Ti coated ones don't **** for the price anyway, or you have a whole set worth of throwaways if you want to go that route also. They sharpen up pretty well. The best way to learn on any tool is to start with biggest ones you can work with, you can see what you're doing better.

 

[marks.soderberg]

Many years ago I work for Boeing where we sharpened 90,000 drills a week in the Northwest. We used serious Winslow and Normac sharpeners. I have a DD and it's pretty sad compared to the real tools - surface finish rough and accuracy of relief poor. Also the real trick is to get to drill on size, the centrality of W2 and W1 for split point. I cant imagine on a grinder or DD you are able to get within .002 like you need for real accuracy...


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[hangfirew8]

Many years ago I work for Boeing where we sharpened 90,000 drills a week in the Northwest. We used serious Winslow and Normac sharpeners. I have a DD and it's pretty sad compared to the real tools - surface finish rough and accuracy of relief poor. Also the real trick is to get to drill on size, the centrality of W2 and W1 for split point. I cant imagine on a grinder or DD you are able to get within .002 like you need for real accuracy...

Can you imagine getting within .002" by hand? I guess some hand sharpeners do. Imagine, that is.

 

[zendriver]

Many years ago I work for Boeing where we sharpened 90,000 drills a week in the Northwest. We used serious Winslow and Normac sharpeners. I have a DD and it's pretty sad compared to the real tools - surface finish rough and accuracy of relief poor. Also the real trick is to get to drill on size, the centrality of W2 and W1 for split point. I cant imagine on a grinder or DD you are able to get within .002 like you need for real accuracy...


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Why would you want to compare them?

Just curious.



DD sharpens drill bits. The other one sharpens drill bits with extreme accuracy.

One is 50 bucks, the other is not.


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[rlitman]

Many years ago I work for Boeing where we sharpened 90,000 drills a week in the Northwest. We used serious Winslow and Normac sharpeners. I have a DD and it's pretty sad compared to the real tools - surface finish rough and accuracy of relief poor. Also the real trick is to get to drill on size, the centrality of W2 and W1 for split point. I cant imagine on a grinder or DD you are able to get within .002 like you need for real accuracy...

I have a Darex sharpening rig that I no longer use. I use the DD. The results are equivalent. The biggest difference is the use of plastic in DD. If you are having the issues you describe, you need to head back to the bench and re-learn your technique.

As for getting the center within 0.001" on a DD, that's not difficult at all. It's easy to know you've gotten that, when your feed rate is that low, and you are still producing two spirals of chips, and that is something I can easily produce on the DD every time, and something that absolutely cannot be produced regularly by hand on a grinder.

Getting the two halves of a split point that well balanced is possible, though quite difficult (splitting points is something the DD does, but doesn't do all that easily), but that is not something critical for any accuracy anyway.